Dahlia didn't completely buy into that smile that Schmoe had given her but that point of the matter was, he had tried. That in itself counted. She had not only seen it but she felt. Not to mention she knew a good deal of what he had gone through last term, seen it with her own blue eyes. Her heart hurt for him just as she was sure his hurt for them. Now she wasn't saying that the other professors from last term weren't hurting because they were, just some.. maybe she felt a little closer to.

As the lesson began, Lia couldn't help but lightly tap her foot on the ground a little. It was more of involuntary thing and she wasn't really aware of it but it seemed to help her focus on the question a tiny bit. Empathy, sympathy and pity. What was the difference. Well this was one way to start a lesson.

After listening to several of her peers give their answers she slowly raised her hand. "Well.. empathy is like that smile you gave me when I first sat down. It's how most of us sitting here have gone through something and we can all understand that and respect it because how we feel while not exactly like how they do, it's similar." She paused for a moment. "Sympathy is more of an understanding of what someone is going through and wanting to be there for them because you care about them and want to help them even though you aren't dealing with their current situation yourself."